According to the Washington Post, Tim Pawlenty is still planning to head to Virginia tomorrow to raise money for GOP candidate Bob McDonnell. This is the Bob McDonnell whose blueprint for governing called working women "detrimental" to the family and tha the proliferation in the day care industry was caused by the desire of some women "to break their perceived stereotypical role bonds and seek workplace equality and individual self-actualization."
These statements made us wonder why Tim Pawlenty -- the governor of a state where 69% of women work -- is raising raising money for Bob McDonnell, a guy who says these women are a detriment to the family and society?
So we launched a campaign last week and encouraged women to speak up and make let Tim Pawlenty know what they think about his decision to raise money for a sexist. And here's what some of you had to say:
Beth in St. Paul:
Dear Governor Pawlenty,
As a woman who is not only a mother and a small business owner, who took care of elderly parents for several years, I was dismayed to find out that you are raising money with Bob McDonnell of Virginia.
The thought that my efforts on behalf of my family, my community, and the economy are considered as detrimental to society is outrageous
Please, Governor, do not betray the hard-working women of Minnesota this way.
Aileen doesn't think Tim Pawlenty's decision represents the values we Minnesotans hold dear:
It doesn't really surprise me that you're raising money for this man, Tim.
It does, however, embarrass me.
You represent Minnesota -- start representing Minnesota values!
May from Heidelberg:
I am a working women in Minnesota and I choose to work. My daughter and all of my women friends are working women as well. How dare a man say that we contribute to the breakdown of society!
From James, a Republican:
I'm a Republican and my wife has always worked while raising two wonderful children. Please don't sell your soul again to the right wing nuts in the Party!
Kathy hopes that Tim Pawlenty makes the right choice and uses his time in office to represent all the people in Minnesota:
It is really sad in this day and time that we still need to listen to people, such as Bob McDonnell, blame women in the workforce to the "breakdown in society".
Tim Pawlenty - ditch the bigot and finish out your term representing ALL of the residents of Minnesota as you were elected to do.
Thank you.
Courtney:
Gov. Pawlenty,
I am part of that 60% of Minnesota's workforce that is supposedly, according to Bob McDonnell, so detrimental to family & society. Hm. Wonder how the MN economy will feel if we were to bow to McDonnell's wishes and get out of the workforce? I would bet my 77 cents to your dollar THAT would be detrimental. Perhaps a better word would be "CATASTROPHIC."
GET WITH THE NOW. Women's roles have CHANGED and are still CHANGING. The role of the family is changing. I know the backbone of the conservative movement is to keep things from changing, but it is just the law of physics: everything changes. Please keep this in mind when you reminisce about the precious days in the 1950s when women "knew their place." We are earning our own money now and are a necessary cog in what keeps our society moving. Aside from the fact that a woman GAVE YOU and Mr. McDonnell life. You're welcome.
One woman asks Tim Pawlenty to "put his head on right" and think about how women in the labor force has allowed our country to prosper:
The participation of women in the labor force is what has KEPT society from breaking down. Let's get out of the dark ages and look at more recent history.
Does Rosie the Riveter ring a bell?
Or what about successful nurses and doctors, those that save lives are breaking down society?
Or female Senators and Representatives are breaking down society?
Mr. Pawlenty, put your head on right and stop doing stupid things. Minnesotans have long memories and your moonlighting in other locations with people who don't share MN values. Are you looking to make sure that Minnesota residents make sure that you never have a chance in politics again?
These are just a small sampling of the hundred of comments we've received asking Governor Pawlenty to represent Minnesota values and not support sexist candidates. There's still some time left to make your voice heard -- so if you haven't already, sign the petition to Tim Pawlenty and encourage your friends to join you.
Next week, Tim Pawlenty will take yet another out-of-state trip to raise money for the GOP and its candidates. His last trip took him to New Jersey, where he raised money for a guy with a less-than-stellar ethics record. But the candidate Tim Pawlenty has chosen to help raise big money for really takes the cake -- he's a sexist:
McDonnell argued, among other things, that working women and feminists are "detrimental" to the family; that government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators;" and that the court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples was "illogical," because at the time non-marital sex was itself a crime.
And he attacks the phenomenon of women working outside the home, writing that the proliferation in the day care industry was caused by the desire of some women "to break their perceived stereotypical role bonds and seek workplace equality and individual self-actualization." Asks McDonnell: "Must government subsidize the choices of a generation with an increased appetite for the materialistic components of the American Dream?"
Why is the governor of a state where 69% of women work raising money for Bob McDonnell -- a guy who says these women are a detriment to the family and society?
McDonnell is free to be as big an insane cultural reactionary as he wants, similarities to the Taliban aside. But is this the kind of insanity with which Tim Pawlenty is trying to associate himself?
If Tim Pawlenty even cares anymore what his home state thinks of reactionary ideologues with attitudes like McDonnell's, he would immediately cancel this appearance.
Yesterday, ABM's Executive Director Denise Cardinal sent out the email below asking Minnesotans to remind Tim Pawlenty that we still expect him to represent the values that Minnesotans hold dear -- and that means not supporting sexist candidates.
Check it out:
Friend--
Minnesota has more working women than almost any other state in the nation. Governor Pawlenty's wife, Mary, is one of them. She met him in law school, served as a judge for years, and now helps run a successful foundation.
But her husband is scheduled to raise money next Wednesday with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell -- and Bob McDonnell's blueprint for governing states that women who work are "detrimental to the family."
[E]xisting federal child-care programs already cost more than $6.9 billion in 1988. Further expenditures would be used to subsidize a dynamic new trend of working women and feminists that is ultimately detrimental to the family by entrenching a status-quo of non-parental primary nurture of children.1
Minnesotans are proud to have 69 percent of its women in the workforce2 and we certainly don't think working mothers and women are "detrimental" to any family.
Tim Pawlenty may think he's already running for President, but we still expect him to represent the values that we Minnesotans hold dear. That means no support for sexist candidates.
Sign the petition and we'll make sure Tim Pawlenty knows that Minnesotans are proud to have a workforce that supports families of all kinds, even ones that include women and "feminists."
Thanks for speaking out,
Denise Cardinal Executive Director Alliance for a Better Minnesota
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